Harvard's Colton Chapple Named 2012 Ivy League Football Offensive Player of the Year

Colton Chapple was named the 2012 Asa S. Bushnell Cup recipient as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year in an announcement made at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York City on Dec. 3, 2012. Chapple is the eighth Harvard player to receive the Bushnell Cup, the third in as many seasons and the fourth quarterback (Jim Stoeckle, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Chris Pizzotti)

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Harvard senior quarterback Colton Chapple was named the 2012 Asa S. Bushnell Cup recipient as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year in an announcement made at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York City on Dec. 3, 2012.

Chapple is the eighth Harvard player to receive the Bushnell Cup, the third in as many seasons and the fourth quarterback (Jim Stoeckel, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Chris Pizzotti) to earn the honor.

Chapple, Harvard's Frederick Greeley Crocker Award as Harvard's most valuable player, finished the regular season as the second-rated passer in the country. He achieved single-season records for touchdown passes, totaling 24 touchdown passes to surpass the previous high-water mark of 18. He also set the single-season record for total offense, accounting for nearly 320 yards of offense per game, on 66 percent passing while rushing for 602 yards (5.5 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns.

His emergence in the ground game was nothing short of spectacular, given that he had run for 186 yards and one touchdown during the first three years of his career. He had a pair of 100-yard rushing games including 120 yards and two touchdowns in one half of play against Bucknell and 128 yards and a touchdown against Yale.

Chapple leaves the program as owner of two of the top three single-game passing records in terms of yardage including the top mark with 448 yards on 31 of 45 passing with five touchdowns at Princeton this year.

For his career, he recorded five games with at least four touchdown passes – no other Harvard QB has more than two such performances (Ryan Fitzpatrick.)

His 39 career touchdown passes leave him tied with Fitzpatrick for second all-time and just two shy of the all-time mark by Neil Rose. His .622career passing completion percentage is also second by the slimmest of margins, just .002 behind Rose.